Introducing the Video Rats Nest Eliminator!

It's a bit of a departure for SilverLeaf, but there is a good reason for it. We were looking under the dash of a coach not too long ago and saw a most amazing rat's nest of cables. A whole family of nutria could have been living in there, and I had to ask the tech I was working with what they all were for. "Video", he said. "We have side cameras, and we run them to the dash, the overhead TVs, and so on. So we have a switch box, a few relays and diodes, some splitters and amplifiers. It's all in there."

"All those pieces and parts - there has got to be a switchbox out there that could do that in one box.", I prodded.

And indeed, there isn't such a thing. Sure, there are a lot of video switches that are designed for specific needs - but nothing that was designed for an RVer that wants to be able to check his side and rear cameras on more than just the dash monitor. I looked everywhere and couldn't find one.

So we just had to make one ourselves.

And now, three months later, we have the VDX 404 Video Switch. It takes four video sources and routes them to four video outputs in pretty much any combination. It responds to up to a dozen inputs, such as blinkers, transmission status signals, and accessory switches, and routes the video signals automatically in response.

Adding more monitors and cameras is trivial, up to the number four. Every output is buffered, eliminating the need for amplifiers or isolators. Every output is true to its source. And installation is as simple as it could possibly be.

One great idea we had was matching it with the new Garmin GPS. You can plan your trips with the GPS on the big-screen front TV, and then when you start driving watch the GPS on the VMS video. You can even add a video monitor on the passenger side - let the "navigator" plot the course, while the driver sees exactly the same GPS maps in the dash.

And that's just the beginning to the ideas that this device makes practical. Expect to see this in new coaches this Spring from several manufacturers, and in aftermarket installations across the country.